Parents of small children and toddlers generally have a variety of choices when selecting carriers for carrying their larger infants adjacent their upper bodies. However, parents of newborn children can often find it more difficult to find carriers suitable for supporting smaller infants who have not yet developed the neck strength to support their own heads. Consequently, in many cases a parent is often required to dedicate at least one entire arm, and often the second hand, to supporting and stabilize the body of the newborn child or small infant when carrying the child against her chest. While this situation can be entirely desirable when nursing, feeding, playing, and interacting with the child, this limitation can also restrict the ability of the parent to accomplish additional tasks while simultaneously carrying the child in a position adjacent her upper body. Thus, instead of maintaining the close contact with the infant for extended periods of time that can be advantageous and desirable for both the parent and child, the parent is often forced to place the child in a separate cradle or carrier in order to free her arms and hands to engage in additional activities.
A need therefore exists for a carrier for a newborn child or small infant that allows the parent to better maintain the close contact with the infant for extended periods of time while freeing the arms and hands of the individual to rest or to work on additional tasks. It is to the provision of such a carrier that addresses these and other needs that the present disclosure is primarily directed.